Mallard Nest Tubes

Late March, made a few Mallard nest tubes. Was able to set up one nest tube. Harder than I thought it would be. Had to hold off a day or so, before putting up 2 remaining tubes. Watch my Nest Tube Video at the link on the bottom of the page.

Click-on photo to see enlargements.

Buffelhead Duck speeds by as I cross the marsh.

I had this feeling of being watched.

Mother Goose giving the EYE.

Mallard Duck Nest Tube.

The Muskrat, the keepers of the marsh.

Ring-necked Ducks.

Migration stop-over.

Moving to another hole in the marsh.

Click the link below to view my YouTube video:

Mallard Nest Tube: 
Making and Setting-Up 

Thanks for the view.

Ranger's Marsh 4-6-2013

Took a short hike at Ranger's Marsh on the Little Calumet River. Warm, windy day. The marsh is dry as a bone. Water only in the Dead Cottonwood grove. The flooded wood is holding a few ducks and boy are they spooky. The first group of ducks began to get in the wind when I was 100 yards away. Group after group followed. I saw about 300 ducks catch the strong south wind for the next step north.

Drake Mallard Duck

Hen Mallard Ducks

Mallards

Mallards

Gadwall Ducks

Blue-Wing Teal 

Blue-Wing Teal in dead Cottonwood Grove

Blue-Wing Teal Drake

Mink carcass 

How dry is the marsh? Well, here's a photo of Mink ( Neovison vison ) jerky. A sun dried carcass of the nocturnal American Mink. Years ago, this little guy would have been worth his weight in gold.

Dry Marsh

This photo shows the condition of the marsh this spring, bone dry. Typically, there would be two foot of water covering the cattail humps.  

Author

Me after a the hike. I'd like to thank you for viewing my blog. Thanks!

The Douglas Center Revisited

Paid another visit to the Paul H. Douglas Center for Environmental Education. This time I hiked the Miller Woods Trail and the woods to the east of the main parking lot on Lake Street. Maybe a mile and a half in total.

          ( Click on any image to see an Enlarged Slide Show )

Covered Foot Bridge over Lake Street, from parking to the Douglas Center.

After parking in the main lot on Lake St. you walk over to the Douglas Center via the Covered Foot Bridge.

The Douglas Center for Environmental Education entrance.

The National Park Service sign greets you and the entry doors are straight ahead of you.

Interesting facts about Northwest Indiana.

A display in the foyer of the Douglas Center lists some amazing facts about Northwest Indiana that I did not know.

Douglas Center view from Lake Street West parking.

This is where the Miller Woods Trail starts, above on the dune is the Douglas Center. I'm standing in a three car parking lot on the west side of Lake Street

Distant view of Douglas Center from the Marsh Overlook Boardwalk.

About a third of the way along the Miller Woods Trail is the Marsh Overlook Boardwalk that crosses the marsh north to south. This is the view looking east, over the marsh. The Douglas Center can be seen in the distance.

Canine tracks and blood trail in snow.

The trail was covered with snow that was a few days old. The snow was more ice than snow, loud and crunchy. Tracks of some type of canine could be seen and blood drops about every ten feet. Probably a dog walkers pooch nipped his ear on a brier thorn.

Opening in snow that lead to a small mammal  snow tunnel.

 Field mice and voles tunnel under the snow and every here and there they poke through to the surface of the snow to check out their surroundings.

Western edge of  Miller Woods Marsh.

At the far west end of the trail is the edge of the marsh. Cattails are the dominate vegetation in the marsh.

Marsh Cattails

The seed head of the cattails, thousands of seeds attached to fur-like fibers that are dispersed by the wind if disturbed.

View of Miller Woods Marsh from a high dune.

A high dune rises above the marsh. Notice how the growth of the cattails encircle the water in the middle of the marsh. If the water level continues to drop over the years, eventually the cattails will die off and the marsh will become a wet meadow.

Deer tracks in snow, big Buck.

Wasn't ready to quit, so I walked the woods on the east side of Lake Street. There I ran across these deer tracks. This deer was big, my guess would be a large buck.

Mammal tracks in snow.

More tracks in the snow. I'll have to brush up on my tracking because I have no Idea as to what these my be from. A mystery, more than likely squirrel or rabbit.

Scene in woods east of Lake Street. 

I walked an old railroad track bed from Lake St. to Grand St. A nice little dune woods and swales to the south. heading back to the Douglas Center parking lot now.

Late Winter Walk-Ranger's Marsh

March 4th, 2012, I went for a short hike at Ranger's Marsh. A brisk west wind was blowing,  temp at about 32 F, overcast skies and snow flurries. Maybe an hour before sunset, the low sun and overcast clouds produced back lighting that was low light and low contrast. Difficult conditions for the best photographer but I'm not a photographer, I'm a naturalist. I'll take what ever snapshot that nature gives me.

In an area of tall grass that was cris-crossed with animal trails. I found the skeletal remains of a large canine. Large dog or coyote, I could not tell. The photo shows the skull, lower jaw and lower leg.

Canine Skull and lower jaw

In the waters of this beaver pond, the first of the emergent aquatic plants can be seen.

Aquatic plants reaching for the surface of a beaver pond

Local Giant Canada Geese swimming thru the skim ice of the marsh. Many pair of geese use the marsh to nest and raise their young. These birds are locals and remain in the area thru out the year.

Giant Canada Geese

After a few minutes of following a deer trail along the edge of the marsh, I was able sneak into shooting range of a small herd of deer. This deer is in the shallow marsh waters, feeding on the new plant growth. Three or four more deer are in the tall phagramites grass in the background. There are also ducks and geese in front of the deer.  Can you see them?

White-tail Deer feeding on aquatic plants

Below the deer and to the left are two migratory Mallard Ducks , but are there more ducks.

White-tail Deer and Mallard Ducks

The deer gets a little to close to a pair of  Canada Geese that were in the cattails. The geese take flight and in turn scare the deer. The white hair that cover the underside of the deer's tail and rump is used as a warning flag when the deer perceives danger. It also helps them locate each other in heavy brush. 

Deer and Geese spook each other

Now everybody is spooked.  The marsh explodes with flushing waterfowl. I had no idea there were this many birds in this small corner of the marsh. Black Ducks, Mallards and Shovelers all take to the sky in unison, while the deer bucks for cover.

Black Ducks, Mallards and Shovelers flushing

On the return leg of the walk, I find an antler shed by a buck. I wonder if this antler belonged to the deer I was watching earlier. This antler is from a nice eight point buck,

Buck White-tail Deer Antler

A true sign of Spring, budding Pussy Willows. When I was a kid, I would bring home arm fulls of these twigs, place them in jars of water and watch them flower, sprout leaves and root.

Budding Pussy Willow

As the sun sets in the west, time has come to call it quits. I got a little exercise, saw a little wildlife, and capture a few snap shots. It's been a good day, hope you enjoyed it too.

Sunset at Ranger's Marsh

2 Mile Walk

Found a trail along the Little Muddy River. It's a mile from start to finish, making it a two mile round trip. An easy walk when dry. Not so easy during high water. A good walk none the less.

Wild Chicory

Common chicory(Cichorium intybus)

Mid-July and the wild Chicory is in bloom. Chicory is used for salads, coffee and greens. It's  a non- native species  from Europa.

Double-crested Cormorants

The dead Cottonwood tree that is used by the cormorants as a preening tree is the half way point of the walk.  Turn around here for a short one mile walk.

Cormorants drying feathers in dead Cottonwood tree.

 Double-crested Cormorants(Phalacrocorax auritus) sunning.

Painted Turtle

I encountered a couple Painted Turtles taking a stroll in the meadow, a ways from the water. Why ? Maybe its turtle making turtle season.

Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta)

Wood Ducks!

Common to the river and marsh are Wood Ducks(Aix sponsa) A perching duck that nests in tree hollows. A day after hatching the baby ducks climb to the opening and jump to the ground, sometimes from a height of more than 100 feet. Once the ducklings are on the ground, mama duck leads them to water. 

Male and female Wood Ducks(Aix sponsa)

July is the time for Eclipse. The adult ducks shed and regrown their feathers and until the flight feathers grow back the ducks can not fly.

Drake Wood duck in eclipse.

Male and female ducks look similar because the brightly colored feathers of the males are dropped and the males are brown and gray like the females.

Wood Ducks

The white eye patch will help identify the female Wood Duck.

Female Wood Ducks

A cattail marsh surrounded by woods is the preferred habitat of the Wood Duck.

Cattail Marsh

Well, this is the 1 mile point. Now I turn around and finish the 2 mile walk.  
(If you would like to see enlargements, just click on photos.)